Tomolly & The Shopkeeper

When my beautiful friend Belinda asked if I would like to come to Carcoar in mid September and photograph a floral workshop held in the creative studio at Tomolly, the answer was an emphatic YES! The opportunity to pop up to the Town Time Forgot was motivation in itself, but getting to spend an afternoon with a bunch of creative women learning floral design from the fabulous Libby Spencer of Botanica Flora sealed the deal.

I decided to make a weekend of it and booked For 2, an AirBnb in the nearby village of Millthorpe. On Saturday morning I squeezed my boys goodbye and drove up through the Hilltops Region past golden fields of canola to Carcoar. It was lovely to be back again. The Main Street was busy with activity, full of visitors and locals enjoying the spring sunshine. I took the opportunity to photograph Belinda's shop before the floral workshop began and got to have a chat with the lovely Liz who looks after the store when Bels needs to dash out. Belinda curates the most beautiful collection of homewares.

The Tomolly website launched recently with stunning images by the wonderful Jenna Kensey. There are details about Tomolly and The Shopkeeper, upcoming workshops in the creative collaboration space, styling services, an online shop (soon to go live) and a little cameo of creatives including Kasturi Wren of Wren & Whippet, Belinda & Tim Neame of Hold Cottage and even little ol' me. Its a beautiful, intuitive website and it reflects Belinda's style and character in a wonderful, visual way.

It's absolutely worth the trip to Carcoar to experience Tomolly for yourself!

I've got so many beautiful images to share of the floral workshop that they deserve a post of their own.

So, til next time...

xx Em.

Spring Roadtrip - Carcoar.

We’re home from our Spring Roadtrip and I have far too many photos to squeeze into one or two posts so prepare to be inundated! 

Our trip took us up to Moonee Beach on the north coast of NSW for a bit of a family reunion. I decided to make the long drive more interesting by breaking it up with overnight stays in Orange and Tamworth on the way up and Tamworth and Dubbo on the way home. On each leg of the journey we made time to explore some of the towns and villages we went through. Instagram was a great resource for finding fantastic places to eat and interesting things to see. That little bit of prep done in the weeks leading up to the trip paid off in dividends and my seasoned little road trippers and I really enjoyed ourselves.

Day One was a very pretty drive inland up to Orange via the towns of Boorowa, Cowra, Carcoar, Blayney & Millthorpe. The landscape was a patchwork of green and gold with canola fields in full bloom.We stopped at Pantry on Pudman in Boorowa for morning tea then continued on to Carcoar where we allowed ourselves a couple of hours to explore the village and have lunch. The last time I’d stopped at Carcoar was more than a decade ago, back when (pre-kids) Hubby and I would jump in the car and go exploring on a whim. The historic village hasn’t lost its charm in that time, its still just as delightful and beautiful and filled with lovely people and sights to drink in. We strolled up and down the streets and along the river to stretch our legs before stepping into the 20th Century Toy Museum. 

It was a treasure trove of 1900’s toys and collectables. The boys loved the original Thunderbirds and Dr Who section and I got nostalgic seeing an old Mork and Mindy game, the pencil sharpener collection from the eighties and memorabilia of every craze we went through as kids. For lunch we popped next door to The Village Grocer for something to eat and afterwards... 

...I finally got to indulge myself with a visit to Tomolly. 

I’ve been following  Belinda’s Instagram account and loved the features in Australian Country Style so it was wonderful to pop in and see her beautiful homewares store in person.

When I’d finished drinking in all the pretty my eyes could handle and bought the Husband a beautiful Italian shaving soap, we jumped in the car and drove a little way up the hill so that Harry could explore the abandoned train station and we could take in the view of the village.

We bid Carcoar farewell and continued on to Orange...but that’s for another post.

xx Em.